The two met Saturday while Vernon was in New York to see Eclipsed — in whichNyong’o stars — a play about the bond formed among African women held by a Liberian warlord as sexual captives. Vernon attended with 11 fellow members of Sister 2 Sistah, a mentorship program for college-aged women of color in Texas, which secured seats through the campaign 10,000 Girls.

The campaign, announced by Eclipsed producers in February, aims to bring 10,000 underserved young women to see the show — the first Broadway play to boast an all-female, all-African-American cast.

Although the campaign focuses on girls ages 16-24 from the Tri-State area, outside groups, like the Houston-based Sister 2 Sistah, can be sponsored for the trip.

Sister 2 Sistah’s founders, Nakia Cooper and Rebecca Briscoe, say they learned of the opportunity through their eventual sponsor, John Cruise, president of Injured Federal Workers Advocate Association. Kenny Uzoude, founder of Eudora Healthcare, also supported their weekend trip. Besides seeing the show, the group toured the city and visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

“I never would have thought that I would be able to go to Broadway, or go to New York City,” Vernon says. “I’m just so happy.”

Vernon, 21, like many members of Sister 2 Sistah, hasn’t had it easy in life. After her parents divorced when she was 13, she and three younger siblings were uprooted to live in San Antonio, Texas, where they knew no one.

In high school, Vernon says, she often worked 12-hour shifts to help make ends meet. And when her mother was hospitalized, the then-17-year-old found herself in charge of the household.

“I felt like I was the sister and the mom and the dad at the same time, and taking on all those roles was a lot,” she says. “I really thought I wasn’t going to graduate high school for a while.”

But she did graduate, even receiving a scholarship to Texas Southern University in Houston, where she discovered and joined Sister 2 Sistah.

“I used to feel so alone,” Vernon says. “But hanging out with people who’ve been through some of the same things and even worse and made it, it’s such a relief.”

Cooper and Briscoe, both TSU alumna who work in media in Houston, founded Sister 2 Sistah in spring 2015 for that reason: to give young women who have experienced major challenges a place to meet and find success.

“I’ve learned that a lot of the time women of color are ostracized,” says Briscoe, an entertainment reporter for Houston Style Magazine. “We’re going against the grain.”

Although the group is in its second year, the New York trip marked the first opportunity for the women to travel together. It was also the first time many of them had been on a plane, including Ke’Tara Wells, a graduate student at Sam Houston State University.

“That was a challenge for me,” Wells says. “But it was a lot of the girls’ first time as well, and so we really looked out for each other.”

During the school year, the women of Sister 2 Sistah network through workshops and other events. Cooper, who is a digital executive producer at CW39, says she had a mentor at TSU who helped her out of an abusive relationship and encouraged her career aspirations. The experience inspired her to help young women in the same way.

“It has to be a woman that helps other women,” Cooper says, a message the group took away from Eclipsed — itself shining the spotlight on sisterhood in the face of hardship.

Vernon could relate to the bravery of the characters, as well as actress Nyong’o’s diminutive frame, reinforcing what Sister 2 Sistah is all about.

“We want them to see people of success that look just like them,” Cooper says.

Ginger Hervey is a student at University of Missouri-Columbia and USA TODAY College correspondent.